Super Fun Day at Garage and Estate Sales

I’m back in Colorado after a flying (literally and figuratively) trip to Michigan to celebrate the life of one of my favorite uncles.  As if to welcome me back, we had a whee of a time shopping last Friday.

But first, let me show you how one of my cacti welcomed me home:

This is why I grow some of the ugliest cacti in Christendom.  It’s nothing to look at until it pops out one of these babies.  My second-ugliest cactus looks to be blooming soon and I’ll try to capture one of its flowers.

We went to a sale that sounded awesome in the ad:

But not really garage sale prices.  We did, however, like this cute bird house.  Upside down, a rake appears to be the peacock of the garden-tool world.

There’s a funny story attached to this picture:

We were minding our own business at a garage sale, bestowing quarters (25¢ ones, not fat ones) left and right, when a man asked the crowd at large, “Who owns that purple truck?”  Well, that would be Kathy.  He approached and offered her $10 to haul his new barbecue to his nearby house.  How could you beat that?  Kathy is the only person I know who can make money at someone else’s garage sale!  And the best part?  We didn’t even have to do any lifting.

After a few more garage sales, we headed to Goodwill.  This little guy was just screaming for attention:

We really aren’t pig people (for my part, I helped out on a farm and had to slop the pigs with a 2×4 in hand), but whoever painted this did an excellent job of giving this little guy a Babe-like sweetness.  I’m sure it flew right out the door with the first pig lover who saw it.

Kathy pulled this toy off the shelf to unnerve the Summer Intern:

For my part, he looks like the love child of Big Bird and Ernie.

We looked down on the lower shelf and noticed this whole box-full of Storybook clone dolls:

Someone did a nice job crocheting outfits for them.  They were oh-so-cute, but we try not to buy this kind of doll.  That doesn’t mean that we don’t have a few on our shelves, but we left this collection for someone else to love.

There are a few strange things going on with this piggy bank:

Its apparent identity crisis made me wonder if a plastic toy could grow up feeling like a different animal inside, à la The Ugly Duckling?  Obviously, this pig is experimenting with other animal identities, before committing to one species.  This little paragraph is a perfect example of why I should never, ever, write a children’s book.

We sure did see some odd creatures on Friday:

Neither of these would win a beauty contest.  The poor bunny on the left couldn’t even be removed from its support after being fired, or maybe they didn’t even bother, given how he turned out.  We’re hoping that his appearance was some sort of freak kiln accident.  The rabbit on the right has no excuse; he looks to be a cross between a rabbit and Bigfoot.  Just imagine how excited Bobo, from Finding Bigfoot (I am so embarrassed to admit I even know who he is), would be if he shopped at this Goodwill!

After lunch, we headed over to a sale by our least favorite estate sale people.  Who knew that they could hold an amusing sale?

The bedroom had some amazing old clothing, but we were in love with this lovely old petticoat.  Of course we didn’t buy it; we don’t shop with the Smithsonian’s budget!

The yin to all the gorgeous clothing’s yang is this lamp:

Even its tag describes it as “grotesque”.  It’s a touch too strange for my taste, but the real grotesque is the price–$25o.  It would require a big ol’ silk lampshade too, which wouldn’t come cheap.

We took a step outside into the backyard, and it was this table and chair set which initially caught my eye:

The table top is fabulous formica, and it’s fun even without its legs.  The accompanying chairs are ever so less fabulous!  I can understand the original vinyl upholstery wearing out and reupholstering, but who on earth would choose that color of crushed velvet?  Ugly with a capital UG!  And the price is pretty UG too–$325.

On the other hand, you don’t see these very often:

Someone removed the old buckboard benches off wagons and used them for garden benches.  If you’re heavy enough, you might even be able to make that big spring underneath bounce you up and down.  I’m pretty sure you would need to add some padding to make sitting and bouncing comfortable.

Downstairs was even more fun than the upstairs:

The apartment kitchen was a perfect late ’40s to early ’50s time capsule.  The stove was about two feet wide and I’ve heard them called apartment stoves.  I had one in my first apartment with an oven door that opened like a cupboard door.  It too was about two feet wide, and you had to stick your whole head and shoulders in it to light the pilot conveniently located at the very back.  The refrigerator in the picture is natural gas-powered and wasn’t for sale.  The estate sale people said that you can’t sell them any more; it’s a pity, since this specimen is so minty that it even had its brochure.

I should say that everything in the kitchen was painted a creamy white color.  I really needed to adjust the white balance on my little point and shoot!  This cupboard was pretty dang cute too:

 The bottom shelf had some paper boxes of spices.  I’m not even sure when commercial spices came in paper boxes and not tins.

This Westinghouse cabinet TV was wonderful:

It didn’t surprise me that it was sold.  Hopefully someone got it on the half-priced day since I’m not sure it even works any more:

It would make a great prop for a theater company, if they were staging plays from the ’50s or early ’60s.  As a side note, my mother told me that the first time she saw a television in the early ’50s, she wasn’t that impressed because only boxing was being televised.  Radio was much more fun!

That’s it for this week–thanks for tuning in.  We want to wish all the wonderful dads out there a Happy Father’s Day!!